Grizzly bear kills hunter in remote Montana

BONNERS FERRY, Idaho (AP) — A grizzly bear killed a hunter in a remote area along the Idaho-Montana border, and then was fatally shot by the hunter's partner, authorities said Friday.

The attack occurred about 10 a.m. Friday in the mountainous, heavily forested region near the Canadian border.

The identity of the hunter who was killed is being withheld until his family is notified.

It is illegal to kill a grizzly bear, which is listed as threatened in the Lower 48 states. It was not immediately known if the hunter who shot the bear will be charged with a crime.

The fatal attack comes as Idaho's congressional delegation has proposed amending the Endangered Species Act to clarify that it is legal to shoot a grizzly bear in self-defense or in defense of another person.

The legislation was in response to the case of a northern Idaho man who shot and killed a grizzly cub in May after it and two others wandered onto his property.

Jeremy Hill, 33, was charged with a federal crime of killing a federally protected species, but the case was dropped last week and he paid a $1,000 fine for a noncriminal infraction.